Alien Relic Hunter

Chapter 593 Technical Support

"If you ask me now, I can only think of something like 'dry ice'... But it's obviously not 'dry ice', and we didn't observe the rising white mist," Ke Lan said.

Dry ice is a common name for solid carbon dioxide. In the old era, the most common use of dry ice for ordinary people was to create "smoke" on the stage or in film and television dramas. In fact, this substance is more used in industry. Low-temperature refrigerated transportation and cleaning of some special equipment.

No matter what kind of use it is, the reason why dry ice can play a role is inseparable from its extremely easy sublimation characteristics.

Ke Lan can be sure that the crystals found in the cranial cavity of wolf-like creatures are definitely not dry ice, and the way it disappears is not "sublimation" or "volatility" at all.

Sublimation or volatilization of any substance will take away a certain amount of heat. It is precisely because of this characteristic that dry ice can be used for emergency cooling.The large amount of "smoke" generated during the sublimation of dry ice is due to the low temperature that condenses the water vapor in the air into small droplets, turning the "water vapor" that cannot be observed by the naked eye into "water vapor" like white mist.

But Ke Lan and the others not only did not observe water vapor, even the readings of the temperature detector did not change significantly...

"Continue to dissect and cut the entire cranial cavity." Ke Lan said to Ivan.

If you don't do anything, since you have "wasted" a sample, you must at least squeeze out the value of this sample.

"Yeah." Ivan nodded, picked up the drill saw again, and started to enlarge the incision.

Soon, the two of them lifted the entire sky cover.

"Look, this is the place where the cranial cavity and the spine connect - the middle of this section of the spinal canal is also empty." Ivan pointed out with a light.

This was supposed to be the medulla oblongata, the most densely populated place of neurons in the body, but at this moment, what the two of them saw was only an empty spinal canal.

"Expand the anatomy and disassemble the entire spine." Ke Lan said.

"Right on my mind."

The process of dismantling the spine was more complicated than the craniotomy, but because the two of them had no scruples in their hearts at this time, the movements under their hands naturally accelerated. In less than 10 minutes, all the vertebrae in the cervical spine were removed. It was taken apart.

Humans have seven cervical vertebrae, namely C1~C7, while this wolf-like creature has only four cervical vertebrae, but each is nearly twice as long as the human cervical vertebrae.

"Sure enough, there are also cavities inside these vertebrae." Ivan brought a bone under the spotlight, "So... this kind of creature is not without nerve cells, but their nerves have been covered by the 'see Photodeath' crystals instead."

"But this structure is too unreasonable, isn't it?" Ivan said again, "If this kind of crystal will automatically decompose after being exposed, then if these wolf-like creatures are injured, it is not a fatal injury. It will become a fatal injury due to crystallization... From the perspective of biological evolution, it is undoubtedly very stupid."

"You can't look at these creatures from the perspective of natural evolution... They are probably all modified biological weapons... Although from the perspective of weapons, this design is stupid enough." Ke Lan said.

"Then what should we do now?" Ivan asked.

"As far as the equipment in the base is concerned, if you continue to study, you can't find any tricks." Ke Lan said, "I will send a group of professional-level equipment and researchers here... But there is one thing to say, since the research institute After the accident, it seems that there are really not many scientific research talents in this field. Those non-governmental research organizations count as one, but they are all quite hip. After all, who has the ability to leave an "academic holy place" like a research institute If you don’t go, why don’t you stay and work in a private enterprise?”

If it were placed in the old era, private enterprises might still be able to retain talents through high salaries, but on the Ark, no matter in terms of treatment, authority or status, the research institute can form a situation of crushing non-governmental organizations. Since there is a chance to become a real Who would be willing to stay in the "mortal world"?
"It's better to be a chicken head than a phoenix tail" is a phrase used by incompetent people to comfort themselves, but in the eyes of truly capable, pursuing and ambitious people, the phrase "people go to high places, water flows to low places" It is the eternal truth.

The two cleaned up the scene, Ivan stayed in the laboratory and continued to write the report, Ke Lan stretched a lot, and walked out unsteadily.

There was no difference between day and night in the core power room, but the designers had a whim and moved the "virtual sky" system on the ark to the base.As soon as Ke Lan raised his head, he happened to see that half of the huge warm halo behind the radiation cloud sank below the horizon, and the last afterglow of the setting sun coated the buildings in the entire base with a layer of soft gold.

"It's been so long in the laboratory?" Ke Lan sighed softly. The exploration operation of Block [-] started before ten o'clock in the morning, and Ke Lan and the others "cooked" the group of wolf-like creatures and returned to the lab. It was only a little over twelve noon at the time of the base, and in a blink of an eye, it was almost night.

"Is there anything going on in Block [-]?" Ke Lan took out his mobile phone and sent a message in the online discussion group of the exploration operation.

"Everything is normal. According to the original plan, someone will come back every half hour to report the news. The last time we turned back was 7 minutes ago." The hound quickly replied, "Both the engineering team and the survey team have been sent there. It is estimated that the outpost is almost built now, at least those who stay there will not have to spend the night in the open air tonight."

"Where's the survey team? Any news?" Ke Lan asked.

"They collected a part of the rock samples and sent them back to the Ark together with the first batch of wolf-like biological samples. Then these people began to drill wells on the ground." The hound replied.

"Drilling? To determine the thickness of the rock?"

"Yes, according to them, if Block [-] is really a cabin inside 'Yagunaktor', the rock formation on the surface is just a layer of 'camouflage', and there must be other things underneath... …If you think it’s inappropriate, I can send someone over to stop them right away.”

"It's okay, let them drill." Ke Lan said, "Anyway, the purpose of my organization of the aircraft and the convoy was to explore the boundary of Block [-]. Of course, the boundary of the ground is also the boundary-if they find anything, the first Report to me in time."

"I know. Oh, by the way, I have to remind you about something. The young lady from Soma's family is also here."

"Zofia?"

"Yeah... By the way, have you already taken down the eldest lady?" The hound suddenly switched from a group chat to a private chat, and sent a wretched and smirking emoji.

"What do you say?"

"Don't play dumb for me, I can tell right away with your small appearance." The hound said, "How about it, Missy's taste...isn't it great?"

"How did you see it?" Ke Lan was very puzzled, "Is this kind of thing really visible?"

"Hey... I can't tell you this, it's an untold secret." The hound sent another "hey" emoji, "I know young people have good physical strength, but remember to take it easy and don't slouch ..."

"Stop!" Ke Lan said quickly, "Stop this topic—"

"Okay, okay, as long as you don't be late tomorrow morning, or you will be ashamed when the time comes."

……

……

Just when Ke Lan returned to his residence, he happened to see a graceful figure standing in front of the cabinet, looking at the exhibits inside.

Naturally, Ke Lan's cabinet will not be filled with priceless works of art like those big families. The cabinet is basically equipped with his usual equipment. At this moment, Zofia is playing with him. That large-bore hunting pistol that has been used for many years.

"I bought this gun when I just obtained the hunter qualification certificate. It was a second-hand product and only cost [-] resource points." Ke Lan said, "At that time, I was told that the pistols used by hunters had a higher caliber. The bigger the better, but after I bought it, I realized that as a child, I couldn’t control such a large recoil at all.”

"What about now?" Zofia turned her head and asked with a smile.

"There is no problem now, but it can't help me at all with the problems I'm facing now." Ke Lan shrugged helplessly.

"But you still take good care of it." Green fingers caressed the slide of the pistol. Although the paint surface on the gun body has fallen off very little, the exposed metal parts have been wiped clean. It is shiny and shiny, and vulnerable parts such as the trigger and magazine release button have also been replaced with customized reinforcements, and a string of mixed English and digital codes are engraved on the grip with a knife.

"That's my personal identification code. At that time, I was worried that I wouldn't remember it, so I engraved it on the handle." Ke Lan said, "By the way, why are you here?"

"I told you before that I will also participate in this exploration operation, and you agreed." Zofia put the pistol back in its original place, turned around and said.

"When did you come here? Don't tell me in advance, so I can arrange someone to pick you up." Ke Lan took two steps towards Zofia, and suddenly, a familiar fragrance penetrated into his nostrils .

"I came here with the second batch of materials delivery team from the Soma Consortium. When they first arrived, they told me that you were in the laboratory, so I didn't go to bother you." Zofia raised her eyebrows and glanced reproachfully. With a glance, Ke Lan grabbed the hand that slipped silently to his waist, "Your self-control was not that bad before, why now..."

"There is an idiom in China called 'eat the marrow to know the taste'... you should know it?" While speaking, Ke Lan had already hugged Zofia's whole body horizontally, and buried her in the other's neck, greedily sniffing.

"Don't be here... go inside..." Zofia's body froze immediately after being touched by Ke Lan. Her arms wrapped around Ke Lan's upper body, and her long legs kicked gently.

"It's okay, I've locked the door." Ke Lan said, and put the delicate body in his arms on the large desk.

……

……

At the same time, the Ark, the research institute.

Although the "meme infection" incident reduced the research institute's staff by nearly [-]%, the research institute was not in a hurry to recruit new recruits. Not only that, even the regular monthly admission assessment was suspended.

The current research institute has basically been completely taken over by the Crisis Management Section, and the entire West District is surrounded by three layers of armed men with live ammunition. If you look at it a few times, you will be questioned by the guards immediately... If you dare to stop and wait and see, you will find several red spots on your body in the next second.

Those are the laser sights of snipers and machine gunners. These people have obtained permission to fire. As long as someone tries to forcefully break into West District [-], he can be killed before his identity is verified—even if this person is often on the news. One of the members of the United Council that appeared in the program, or a high-ranking general with several stars on his shoulders, as long as he violated the regulations, he would be killed without mercy.

The death of a large number of researchers should have been no less than a magnitude [-] earthquake disaster for the ark academic community, but after the incident, a strange phenomenon appeared—many people in their respective fields Well-known experts, those famous experts who should have died in the meme contagion incident...they didn't just disappear, but still appeared in various interview programs, and any research topics that intersect with the folks also Everything is going on in an orderly manner... As for the "death" of these experts, none of the media published it.

Lin Qiming also knew that this was probably a special method used by the people above to maintain stability, but the question... How long can we keep it hidden like this?

Although the blocks inside the Institute have been cleaned up, the damaged buildings are still too late to repair. Even though the Crisis Management Division has adopted Ke Lan’s suggestion to allow civil organizations to participate in the reconstruction of the Institute, the specific The progress of the project is still as slow as a snail-it is estimated that it will take more than half a year for the restoration of the external building alone.

But buildings are actually the least valuable thing in the research institute——the most valuable wealth of the entire research institute is neither those expensive high-tech equipment, nor those rare collections brought from various ruins, but It's the researchers in white coats themselves... The loss in this area, if it doesn't take decades, I'm afraid it won't be able to recover at all.

"Sooner or later, this matter must be disclosed to the public." Lin Qiming, who was sitting behind his desk, sighed. He was about to make a cup of coffee to refresh himself, when the exclusive secretary who had just been assigned to him had already opened the door and left. Come in.

"What's the matter?" Lin Qiming glanced at the secretary—although this girl in her early twenties looked like a fresh graduate who had just graduated from college, in fact, she had already been in the security office before being transferred to the crisis management department. Bureau has six years of work experience.

"'Yagunaktor' sent an application requesting us to organize a team of experts in biology to provide technical support to them... In addition to important people, they also needed a lot of equipment, a lot of equipment They are all on the embargo list," said the secretary.

"What's going on? Did you find anything over there?" Lin Qiming immediately sat up straight in his chair. Although the matter of "Yagunaktor" was not within his scope of authority, when the name was mentioned, A young figure immediately appeared in his mind.

(End of this chapter)